The debate to decide who will preside over the European Investment Bank (EIB) from January 1 will not be settled this week in Galicia, the Belgian Minister of Finance, Vincent Van Peteghem, confirmed today in Santiago de Compostela, who this semester holds the rotating presidency of the financial institution. "It is important not to force the process to reach a consensus candidate, (...) I do not think we are ready at the moment," he said upon his arrival in Santiago de Compostela after holding consultations with the Twenty-seven during the last weeks. Also the Spanish vice president and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, a last-minute candidate for the coveted position, has clarified that she does not believe that the decision will not be made a priori in Santiago.
Although tomorrow the European Finance Ministers will address the issue during an informal breakfast, it will only be "a point of discussion" in which the representative of Belgium, as rotating presidency of the EIB, will inform them about the beginning of the selection process, Calviño pointed out. . "I do not intend to defend my candidacy with the ministers since I am going to be presiding over the meetings and I am going to be welcoming the ministers in my land, here in Santiago," he stressed after the Government launched his candidacy for having "the maximum chances" of winning. Today Calviño has pointed out that "given the caliber of the competitors and the people who are presenting" nothing can be "taken for granted."
The Government thus implicitly assumes the internal criticism that had arisen in recent weeks in the EU due to pressure from Spain to try to settle the matter during the meetings that are being held these days in Santiago and with Vice President Calviño as host. The ministers arrived in Galicia last night and today began the day with a meeting of the Eurogroup. As a novelty, this afternoon there will be a meeting of EU Finance Ministers with their counterparts from Latin America and the Caribbean. The meeting will end tomorrow with an informal meeting of the Council of EU Economic Ministers, Ecofin, where the new fiscal rules will be discussed.
Santiago will, however, be a key setting, behind the scenes, for internal conversations about the presidency of the EIB, a financial institution that, as Calviño has highlighted, is called to play a more important role in the coming years to promote the large projects of the green transition. . The great rival of the Spanish candidate, the Danish Margrethe Vestager, has in fact traveled to the Galician city in what is interpreted as an attempt to mark ground and ensure that the discussion lasts a few more weeks, as the Belgian presidency of the EIB proposed to the governments a few days ago, as La Vanguardia already reported. Yesterday she was seen walking with the ministers, in the front row, during the tour that Calviño offered through the cathedral and the historic center of the Galician city.
The presence of "some candidates" in Santiago "may lead to some conversations," Calviño admitted. Vestager, who has requested a temporary leave of absence as vice president and head of the Competition portfolio to fully defend her candidacy for the position, has been one of the most recognizable faces of the European Commission during the last decade and is emerging as the biggest rival of Calviño, although there are three more candidates: the Polish Teresa Czerwińska, the Italian Daniele Franco, the Swede Thomas Östros. All of them, except the Nordic one, are in Santiago these days (the Italian candidate will arrive this afternoon) campaigning among the delegations of the Twenty-Seven but none with as public and media a profile as the Danish liberal.
It is not ruled out that some informal agreement may be reached in the margins of tomorrow's meeting, but a priori the existence of such a high number of candidates complicates the decision, admitted Minister Van Peteghem, who recalled that the winning candidate needs to fulfill two conditions: have the support of 18 of the 27 countries that are shareholders of the EIB and that, at the same time, they account for at least 68% of the bank's capital. Germany, France and Italy each have 16.1% of the entity's shares, compared to the 9.6% held by Spain, hence the position of Berlin and Paris will be key to deciding the decision.
"I firmly believe that he has all the necessary skills, but we have to talk among all the ministers to make a final decision," the French Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, said about Calviño upon his arrival at the meetings, a promising comment for the Spanish candidacy. Portugal, which has clearly stated that it supports Calviño's candidacy, is one of the few countries that has revealed the meaning of its vote. "It is important to take time to reach a consensus candidate. We know we have to do it before the end of the year but the sooner we decide, the better," added Van Peteghem.
